Love Soldier, I Want Closure

Chandlo smashed the kwookies at his feet with the log he held, finding the object increasingly harder to grip due to his watermelon paws. The current situation was dire, but things were manageable on his end. Sure, Buddy's aim was... questionable, but the Journalist was trying their best, and all the bugsnax they let slip by were swiftly dealt with by Chandlo, and judging by the brief side glances he took when he got the chance, Snorpy was also taking care of the pests.

It all happened too fast. Things were fine until they weren't, and everyone went from blissfully dancing to driving away the parasitic bugsnax long enough to make an escape before the volcano erupted. It was almost absurd, how quickly things escalated towards the worst.

He stiffly went through the motions, everything blurring by as he threw the supports for the Journalist, and defended himself when the bugsnax got past the tripwire. It took him a moment to register that the last bugsnax had been slaughtered. No more would be climbing down the mountain, for now, at least. "We did it, Snorp-dawg!" Chandlo cheered, turning to the yellow grumpus.

Nothing could prepare him for what he saw next.

Snorpy was an amalgamation of Chippers and Kwookies, staring at the Journalist with wide, fearful eyes. Chandlo was frozen as he watched the grumpus he loved collapse, limbs breaking off and reducing themselves to snackmatter. His signature beanie was all that remained of him in a matter of seconds.

"SNORPY!"

Chandlo rushed over to the snackmatter that once was his lover, falling to his knees.

He struggled to register that Snorpy was just... gone. No last words, no body, no indication of anything wrong. Alive one moment, snackmatter the next.

Everything was supposed to work out. They were supposed to face all of the world's trials side by side.

Chandlo wasn't supposed to return home alone.

His eyes welled with tears "No. No no no no no no no. You can't just leave me like that. You can't be gone. You can't be. I need you, dawg..." He shakily grabbed Snorpy's beanie and held it in his paws, unable to comprehend what he just witnessed. He wanted to run. He wanted to hide. He wanted to throw up. He wanted to scream. But all he could manage to do was remain with Snorpy's "corpse".

He looked up at the Journalist for an answer, but they were already gone.

He didn't know how long he stayed there, cradling Snorpy's red beanie, but he was eventually interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. "Chandlo." He immediately recognized Floofty's sharp voice. "It's not safe. We must depart at once."

"I can't leave him here..." He choked out, unable to meet the purple grumpus's gaze.

"He's not here anymore." Floofty stated, voice wavering slightly. "He'd... want you to get out of here alive." They extended a chopstick hand. After a fleeting hesitation, Chandlo shakily took it and let the scientist lead them to the airship.

"Oh thank grump, Floofty, you found him!" Filbo said with a small smile, but his face quickly fell as he looked around the airship. "Is... Is this everyone..?"

Although his vision was blurred by his tears, he could immediately tell which grumpuses were no longer with them. Along with Snorpy, Shelda, Beffica, Wambus, and Gramble had succumbed to the bugsnax. "It appears so." Floofty responded.

"I- oh fiddlesticks!" Filbo exclaimed as a Mama Mewon approached the airship at an alarming speed. "Come on come on come on, hurry-" the airship jolted to life and began its ascent just in the nick of time.

"Oh thank grump..." Filbo leaned against the wheel with relief for a few moments, before it randomly clicked that he was the one operating the vehicle, and he immediately snapped back to an alert stance.